THE ULTIMATE COMPLETE PERFORMANCE

23 November 2016

Ross Gibson

United made it five wins on the bounce on Tuesday night, as they capped off a wonderful performance with a 2-0 victory over in-form Peterborough United at the ABAX Stadium.

Kevin van Veen opened the scoring mid-way through the first half after a superb cross on the right from Stephen Dawson. That was how the score stayed until Neal Bishop bundled the ball home in the last ten minutes to kill off the Posh, and secure an impressive win.

“When you are on top you have to put the knife in,” Bishop told The Iron PlayerHD.

“We certainly did that in the first half. If we look at the goal it’s a really well worked one, and Daws has put in a great ball for Kev to finish it.

“They’ve won five games in a row before this, and if you look at all aspects of our performance you could call it a 90 minute one.

“In the first half we dominated possession-wise, and one-nil didn’t flatter us score-wise. We know they’re a good team, and we knew they’d throw bodies forward like they did in the second half.

“We showed the other side of our game because we stood up to them well, and when we managed to break we looked good.”

The Iron’s second goal couldn’t have come at a better time, according to the midfielder, as it killed any of the oppositions hopes.

“When we got the second goal it really took the wind out of their sails and it killed the game with ten minutes left. It was the ultimate complete performance," he continued.

“1-0 is a precarious score-line, it only takes a deflection or a bad bounce for it to go against you.

“I don’t know how the second goal has gone in, but it has and I’m claiming it. It killed the game effectively, and we saw it out well after that.”

The experienced player believes United are getting back to the level of defensive performances that saw them end last season in blistering form.

“That’s what the basis of our good run at the back end of last season was built on clean sheets. We’re looking really solid and back to that now," he stated.

“Credit goes to Charlie (Goode), he’s come in and done great alongside Murray (Wallace). It’s a shame for Mirf, but he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and slotted in their seamlessly.”

Bishop claims that the main thing he and his team mates do each week is to try and not become complacent, and take each week as it comes, as the team get ready for Saturday’s home tie with Oxford United at Glanford Park.

“You take each game as it comes. That’s one thing we are doing really well at the minute – we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves.

“The minute we get on that coach we are mentally preparing for Saturday. It’s another tough one, and they’re a decent team.

“Both games against Oldham were evidence enough that nothing comes easy in this league, and we have to be at full throttle to get the three points again.”

See much more from Neal Bishop, Graham Alexander and Kevin van Veen on The Iron PlayerHD.